This year i have been working on my major project around the idea of graffiti 'cover ups'. This research has brought up many issues such as the obvious Vandalism vs Art, do you categorize these as either creative or destructive activities? In my many readings about these debates many anti graffiti followers will often resort to the argument, who are they to force their opinions, ideas and views on the public.
This lead me to a pair of melbourne (Miles allison and Dominic Allen) artists who have adopted the nature of Graffiti (or Street Art) to the forceful and imposing nature of advertisement. Their practice involves taking over old or unused billboards and hitting members of the public with their own often political views. The subtlety of this seemingly obvious and bold working method is that in general, the public has excepted billboards as an object within public space. If you drive down a freeway you expect to be bombarded with signage. it is an object that falls in that in between space that is the privacy of your own vehicle in peek hour traffic. but the change or alteration to the usual procedures that go into bringing messages to fruition is the works strength.
Luke Turner
September 12, 2010 11:15 PM
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